Turkey’s rule of law is under severe strain and its judiciary is no longer independent. Halil Gurhanli explores why fears of a return to military command should not be underestimated amid corruption, escalating authoritarianism and embittered rivalry between the ruling AKP party and the Hizmet Movement

If the police does what the prosecutor orders, it is replaced. If not, they are ok. So an operation against corrupt officials in Beyoğlu, İstanbul cannot proceed because government does not allow. Because government believes all the corruption case is an attack to its sovereignty. Police chiefs do not want to be replaced. So they do not implement prosecutors’ orders. News in Turkish. Beyoğlu Night (Photo credit: Emre Otlu (Street Photography))

No single policemen have been convicted of assault towards journalists during Turkey’s Gezi Resistance. While 59 journalists and 23 publishers entered 2014 behind bars, 13 defendants including 4 journalists have been convicted of “terrorism” charges according to Turkish Penal Code and Anti-Terror Act with 2 life sentences and a total of 1,609 years and 4 months of prison.

After working as a respected journalist for 25 years in numerous capacities, including a stint as a columnist at one of Turkey’s largest newspapers, Serdar Akinan found himself in early 2013 at a career crossroads: would he continue working in the mainstream Turkish media or open up a pizza place?

Zarakolu’s son, Deniz Zarakolu, who is an editor at Belge Publishing House and a Ph.D. student at Bilgi University, was arrested weeks earlier, on Oct 7. On March 19, 2012, Zarakolu was formally indicted under the charge of “aiding and abetting an

GTE Policy Brief (Istituto Affari Internazionali) No. 10, 15 January 2014 by Juliette Tolay * In the past, Turkey’s asylum policy was considered as highly deficient, in comparison with the higher standards of the EU. Recently, this perception has been changing, with Turkey’s newly adopted law on foreigners, which contrasts with the EU’s slow-paced moves

Global Times (China) 15 January 2014, p. 15 By Sun Zhuangzhi * There are lots of discussions around Turkey’s possible membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). In late November when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Russia, he openly expressed the country’s desire to join the SCO. It came at a time when

The Foreign Policy Programme (TESEV) January 15, 2014 العربية Türkçe Sabiha Senyücel Gündoğar & Mensur Akgün The report entails the findings of the fifth annual survey conducted by TESEV Foreign Policy Programme in collaboration with KA Research between August 15- September 13, 2013. As in previous years, the public opinion survey reveals interesting insights into

Turkish anti-terrorist police have raided the offices of an aid agency on the border with Syria as part of what local media said was an operation in six cities against individuals suspected of links to al-Qaida.

Policy Notes, No. 17, January 2014 Türkçe The Washington Institute for Near East Policy Soner Cagaptay & James F. Jeffrey * In 2014, Turkey will hold two key nationwide elections: one on March 30 for local government and city officials and a second one for president, to conclude by August 28

The battle between Turkey’s Erdoğan government and its erstwhile ally, the Gülen movement, has escalated to the point where it is hard to imagine a reconciliation. Though the fight is exposing the corruption on which Erdoğan’s regime was based, Turkish democracy will be the loser – at least in the short term – regardless of who wins

The epic corruption scandal currently gripping Turkey, not to mention international headlines, is nothing less than the collapse of the entire set on a theatre stage. With that elaborately painted background suddenly gone, so too goes the context for

Once again, the people have a chance to prove that the Arab Spring was not a fluke, that non-violence is the only constructive path for social change, that Islam is compatible with representative governance, and that authoritarianism is not the only guarantor of security and stability.

Top US diplomat John Kerry meets his Russian counterpart Monday after trying to entice Syrian rebels into Geneva peace talks by vowing to exclude the Moscow-backed Damascus regime from any future transition government.

A few hours ago two ISPs, Turknet and Uydunet announced blockage. Not other ISPs yet apply the court rule.

A few days ago Vimeo was blocked first, then unblocked. But particular videos could be blocked in Vimeo and other video sharing sites. Government’s excuse is to block sex videos of government officials but as one might guess, it will go beyond that for sure.

We suspect that they are testing DPI powered blockages partially and there is no homogeneous blockage for the moment.

Very probably government excuse will be like this “you see, we have to block all the site in order to prevent a video to be seen, with the new law, we will ban only particular videos” WHICH means most of the opposition figures’ social media accounts will be blocked…

I believe with all circumvention tools, we will bypass these restrictions, but why should we deal with the censorship at all?

In a day, the new Internet law may be accepted in the Parliament. Then 18 January Internet Freedom marches all over Turkey will become even more vital…

People can see that these articles are a response to Gezi protests and the current corruption investigations,” says Yaman Akdeniz, law professor in Istanbul’s Bilgi University, an active critic of internet restrictions in Turkey

The New York Times (USA) Sunday, January 12, 2014, p. A 11 By Tim Arango Istanbul — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has labeled an investigative reporter who has published a number of leaked documents related to a widening corruption scandal a traitor. Mr. Erdogan’s lawyers have also filed suit against a newspaper columnist, once

… the free flow of information on the internet even further in Turkey,” said Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor at Istanbul’s Bilgi University. “Looking at the current political climate, it is primarily for controlling the leaking of videos and WikiLeaks .

AKP MP Zeyid Aslan enters like a dragon, delivering kicks and punches as a parliamentary commission hearing on controversial changes to the judiciary descends into chaos marred by fisticuffs and a loss of dignity

The jailed PKK leader makes clear his stance on the rift between the Turkish government and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen community, by describing the graft probe as a ‘coup’ attempt targeting the government

The HSYK will examine the Ergenekon trial, considered the most important legal battle in recent Turkish history, which resulted in several life sentences for allegedly trying to topple the government. The decision came after an application from the …